Hypodermic unit



W. ERHARD Oct. 29,- 1940.

HYPonsRuic UNIT Filed April 15. 1939 34:11:23!!! I WA ll/ Z w I Fae. 3 v

INVENTOR l ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 29, 1940 monnnmc UNIT William Erhard,North Bergen, N. 1., assignor to E. R- Squibb & Sons, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application April 15, 1939, Serial No. 267,968

' 6 Claims. (Cl. 128-216) This invention relates to hypodermic unitsi.e., units enabling medicines and other substances to be promptly andemciently administered by injection directly from sterile originalpackages-, and has for its object the provision of such unitscharacterized by exceptional simplicity of structure, inexpensiveness ofmanufacture, and ease, convenience, and dependability in use.

The hypodermic unit of this invention comprises essentially (1) ahermetically sealed collapsible oft-metal tube having areadily-pierceable blind (i. e., integrally-closed) discharge end;

- (2) a hypodermic needle having a base rigidly secured to the tube, thelumen of the needle communicating with the outside of the blind end; (3)a stiff wire, preferably headed at its outer end and pointed at itsinner end, in the lumen of the needle; preferably, (4) a guard discimpaled on the wire near the head; and preferably (5) a detachableprotective cover enclosin the needle and the wire.

The invention will be described in detail in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is an axial section of a hypodermic unit embodying my invention;

F18. 2 is a fragmentary axial section of a similar unit in which thereis provided a different means for connecting the collapsible tube andthe hypodermic needle; and

Fig. 3 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary axial section of the unitshown in Fig. 2, with the connection completed. j

Referring first to Fig. 1, the unit shown comprises a collapsiblesoft-metal tube I having a conventionally-shaped shoulder 2, anunthreaded neck 3, and a blind end 4, the tube having been formed byextrusion, in the customary manner.

The shoulder and neck of the tube are prefer-' ably thicker than thebody of the tube, for rigidity; and the blind end 4 is relatively thin,at least at its center, so as to be readily pierceable by a stiff wire.A hypodermicneedle 5 is secured-as by welding, soldering, or otherwise(for exampleby being made integral) to a base, preferably of the type ofhub 6, and the hub, which hasan inner diameter slightly less than theexternal diameter of the tube neck, is forced upon the tube neck andthus frictionally engaged therewith to form a rigid attachment.Alternatively, the hub may be of greater diameter than the neck andcemented or otherwise attached thereto; and the base may assume any of56 various other shapes. Within the lumen of the needle is a stiff,pointed wire 1 having its outer end modified to form a head or handle 8,the wire being longer than the lumen of the needle and being thusadapted to puncture the blind end of the tube when thrust inwardly.Preferably 5 the wire has impaled thereon a guard disc 9 of thick paperor other protective material which will not dull the point of thehypodermic needle. A protective cover III of synthetic plastic or thelike, preferably transparent, such as Celluloid or 10 Hycoloid, isfrictionally engaged with the hub of the needle, the engagement beingtight enough to exclude contaminants but permitting the cover to bereadily pulled off for use of the hypodermic unit. I 15 The hypodermicunit is assembled as follows: The open tube is placed on a mandrelproviding internal support for the tube neck, the needle hub ispositioned over the neck and forced into frictional engagementtherewith, the wire is in 20 serted into the needle, and the protectivecover attached.

The collapsible tube is then filled with the desired medicine or othersubstance,.inter alia, narcotics, tetanus antitoxin, and insulin-in the25 usual manner through its open end, and that is suitably closed,preferably hermetically sealed. as by electrically forming a bead-weld ll; and finally the completed unit is heat-sterilized in the usualmanner. Alternatively, the needle, wire,

and protective 'cover may becassembled first, the

needle hub being provided with aflange at the edge of its skirt, and theassembly forced upon the neck of the tube by pressing the hub flange andmandrel together.

In using the unit of this invention, the protective coverv is firstremoved'and the wire, as by pressure on its head, thrust inwardly topuncture the blind end of the tube, the guard disc preventing injury tothe needle point as well as contam- 40 inati'on thereof by the fingers,and serving also to assist withdrawal of the wire. The wire is thenwithdrawn, the needle introduced into the subject, and the tube squeezedbetween the fingers to inject the contentsthereof into the subject. Al-45 ternatively, the puncturing movement of the wire may be effected bymerely pushing the cover toward the tube; and moreover the wire may befixed to the distal end or the cover so as to be removable therewith, ina single operation. 50

In Fig. 2 there is shown an alternative means of efiecting a rigidinseparable connection between the hypodermic needle and the collapsibletube. An integral, readily-pierceable partition 20 is situated withinthe bore of the neck 2| so as to I6 cover, wire. handle, and shapes,proportions, and

arrangements of the several elements-within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A hypodermic unit comprising a collapsible soft-metal tube having anintegrally extruded,v readily-pierceable blind end, and a hypodermicneedle having a base immovably secured to the tube. the lumen of theneedle communicating with the outside of the blind end.

2. A hypodermic unit comprising a collapsible soft-metal tube having anintegrally extruded, readily-pierceable blind end, a hypodermic needlehavin abase immovably secured to the tube, the lumen of theneedlecommunicating with the outside of the blind end, and a still wirelonger than and carried in the lumen of the needle.

3. A hypodermic unit comprising a collapsible soft-metal tube having anintegrally extruded,

"readily-pierceable blind'end, a hypodermic needle having a baseimmovably secured to the tube, the

lumen oi. the needlecommunicating with the outside of said blind end, astiff wire longer than and carried in the lumen of the needle, and adetachable protective cover enclosing the needle and the wire.

4. A hypodermic unit comprising a collapsible soft-metal tube having anintegrally extruded, readily-pierceable blind end, a hypodermic needlehaving a base immovably secured to the tube, the lumen 01 the needlecommunicating with the outside of the blind end, a still wire longerthan and carried in .the lumen of the needle, and a guard disc impaledon the wire beyond the outer end of the needle.

5. A hypodermic unit comprising a collapsible soft-metal tube having aneck provided with an integrally extruded, readily-pierceable blind end,and a hypodermic needle having a hub frictionally andimmovably engagingthe outside oi, the neck, ,the lumen oi! the needle communicating withthe outside of the blind end.

6. A hypodermic unitvcomprising acollapsible soft-metal. tube having aneck provided with an integrally extruded, readily-pierceable partitionin its bore; and a hypodermic needle having a base immovablysecured in'the bore above the partition, the lumen of the needle communicating withthe outside of the partition. 1

WM. ERHARD.

